A Mutual Attraction
by Touch of Grey
Summary: The attraction had been there since the beginning...Eddie/Zat.


The attraction had been there since the beginning.

Eddie had been a normal human, back then, while Zatara had been, well, magical. Literally. They'd both been trying out for a spot on the Teen Titans and while Zat had made it, Eddie hadn't. They'd talked quite a bit that day, through the urging of another competitor (who, as it turned out, was actually trying to goad Eddie into asking Zatara for his cousin, Zatanna's, autograph), traded numbers, and began to see each other often, as friends.

Eddie didn't have many friends. Zatara didn't have _any_. They got along well and when Eddie received the demon stick, Zat was the first person he went to. After his...transformation, Eddie reapplied to the Titans and with a bit of nudging from Zatara, he became a part of the team. And then the trouble started.

Since the moment he'd lain eyes of Zachary Zatara, Eddie had known it to be love. The way he ran his fingers through his dark hair when frustrated, the way his eyes flashed when someone upstaged him, that adorable way he bitched about pretty much everything...it was no big secret that Kid Devil was head over heels for the self-proclaimed Greatest Teen Magician. But was the feeling mutual?

They'd originally gone to the rave to try and capture the main gang and leader of a drug trafficking ring. Eddie had been disguised by a simple spell, and Zat himself had, shudder, _dressed down_ for the evening. They were just a pair of teenage boys looking for a good time.

Until Eddie got a hold of a glass of spiked lemonade.

It all went pretty much downhill from there. First they were dancing together, which was all Eddie's idea, and then they were kissing. And then they had somehow gotten back to the small apartment Zatara had been renting near the Tower. And then they were having sex.

At some point, Zatara had decided to blame his complete willingness on intoxication, but that would be a blatant lie. And there was no way he could look Eddie straight in his eyes and lie to him. For god's sake, the boy had actually _mewled_ when he'd squirmed out of his arms! And then he'd twisted himself so that his cheek was resting on Zatara's thigh, and stuck his _thumb_ into his _mouth_. You simply couldn't lie to someone who, once you got past the fact that he essentially looked like a teenaged Satan, was so sweet, he'd cause your teeth to rot. So no, he couldn't lie to him. However, Zatara found that he _could_ fall back into the sweet, sweet embrace of denial.

The next morning, after carefully levitating a still-slumbering Eddie into his bed, Zat allowed himself a singular sweet smile before lapsing into faked horror and revulsion. Eddie had slunk from the apartment, shamed and embarrassed, and Zat had thanked his lucky stars that his friend had been hung-over enough to believe that he'd thought it all to be a mistake. Things between them were awkward for awhile, but it was Zatara who made the first move towards patching the wound by inviting Eddie on a trip to Asia to shut down an illegally functioning branch of weapons dealers. The trip healed whatever bad energies had been flowing between them, and things were normal once more.

And then he'd accidentally zapped them to New Azarath, effectively throwing them headfirst into an adventure that would further strain their already guilt-heavy friendship.

After the Phantasm stole his voice, Zat found himself defenseless. He had to rely on Eddie for everything, from protection down to warmth from the blistering cold of night. Secretly, he'd always thought the little bastard had enjoyed it. Five days in, Zat honestly began to pray for death. He'd take _anything_ over the overwhelming urge to, to tell Eddie the _truth_. That he remembered their night together, that he'd enjoyed it, that he truly did care for the other boy in a more than friendly way. Perhaps Eddie sensed this. Perhaps that is why, on that fifth day, Eddie leaned over and kissed him. Their kiss was no simple passing of lips; rather, it went on for a long enough period of time that it would be impossible to confuse it for anything other than a kiss between lovers. It might have gone on longer, if Zatara hadn't burned his tongue on the roof of Eddie's mouth. After that, he pushed Eddie away, and neither touched again, until they were forced to grip hands as Raven transported them home two days later. Soon after, Zatara left the team.

They stayed on tense yet amiable grounds for ages, eventually settling into a casual friendship not unlike the one they'd had when they first met. Had it not been for three defining factors in their lives, they may have remained unsteady friends for all time.

First, there was Rose. It pained him to see Eddie acting so friendly towards her, acting as if he was interested in her. But mostly, it hurt to see that this girl, this warrior, was slowly taking his place in Eddie's heart. He was not _jealous_, simply...wounded.

Next came the Dark Side Club. He hadn't been there for Eddie. Hadn't been able to keep him from being taken by those Terror Titans, to keep him from being tortured in the name of sport. He hadn't been there after Eddie had been released from the infirmary. Neither, thankfully, had Rose. She'd left for parts unknown. Zatara knew that he should have swept in then, to comfort his friend, to reassure him that not _everyone_ was going to leave him. But he didn't.

And then came the Blue Beetle.

Sure, Jaime was a nice enough guy, very friendly, not unlike Eddie himself. He'd unconsciously begun to fill the spot of Eddie's confident in Rose and Zatara's absences, and as he was so similar to Eddie, he posed a greater threat than Rose had. Sure, they were just friends _now_, but Eddie had a certain subconscious effect on people; they couldn't help but like him.

In the end, it was actually Jaime who helped them open up to each other. After spending a good hour hopping from mirror to mirror, searching the Tower for Eddie, Zatara finally found him in the training room. With Blue Beetle. Lying on the mats and _talking_. They bantered back and forth for awhile, until Jaime finally snapped and told them to get over themselves and make out, already, then stomped from the room. After a minute of awkward staring, Eddie teleported himself (and when had he learned to do _that_?) to where Zatara was. And then they...well, that would best be left to the imagination.

The attraction had been there since the beginning.

It had just taken a few false starts for their (okay, _his_) egos to allow them to get anywhere close to love.

Fini

Why yes, I _do_ like this pairing! How could you tell? This is a sort of in-between story that actually takes place between the lines of Love and Philosophy in a Shot Glass. Haven't read it? Go read it. Eddie/Zat is freaking _canon_. Do not argue with me on this, you will not win. If you like the fic, leave a review. If you didn't like it, let me just put on my caring face. Wait, don't have one. _Never mind_! Sorry, folks. I get a little cranky when I'm sleep-deprived. Until next time!


End file.
